The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1887-02-25

gains fertility by resting from cultiva-
ton. and that fields thrown out a.
cultivation for = few years will be 70
stored % ~ least Z moderate condition
o. fertility without the use % manure.
This we think IL : mistake. and - :
general principle i wrongly based uF-
on m view % the facts In
the case.
Formerly this belief was more Prev
alcnt than il II now in England. where
summer fallows In common use wero
based upon It. and IL is still widely
prevalent in the South. where the old
field system il in vogue. and il really >
most pernicious and costly error. In
the North this idea has been
abandoned. and in the West Il has not
yet come under consideration. because
the time has not yet come for t.
In England it has long been supposed
by farmers that the land needed : rest
At certain intervals. and 90 one year
was devoted to what was called a sum-
mer fallow. But II we suppose that
this fallow was a rest we should be
greatly mistaken. for on the contrary
it was a period Of most laborious cult
ure, two or three plowings and several
intermediate borrowings being given
to break up the soil and render it fine
and mellow in preparation for the
sowing Of : wheat crop. In some cases
a very liberal application Of manure
was plowed under and thoroughly
mixed with the soil by the subsequent
tilIage. In fact, the popular adage
''tillage is manure Wa the fund
ameutal principle Of the practice Of the
bare fallow. 50 that the idea Of resting
the land or Of leaving il to rccuperate
by rest from cultivation was no part Of
the English system offarming.
The old field system Of the South Is
really one Of resting from cultivation.
but il Is not nc all consistent with the
idea and belief that the land gains
fertility by resting. The Southern old
fields are abandoned to weeds and :
natural growth Of timber. and it is the
accumulated debris Of several years Of
this growth which really fertilizes the
soil. When land is thrown out Of culti-
walton and all vegetation is suppressed.
and the surface is not disturbed. II
wastes and loses fertility. The surface.
hardened BY the beating rains and
baked by the searching sum-. absorbs
little water. and Is washed by that
which falls upon il and flows from il
70 the nearest streams. The Southern
streams are discolored by this washing
after every heavy rain, and thousands
Of tons Of soil are carried of from the
uplands and deposited upon the over
flowed bottoms. which are thus
rendered exceedingly fertile 1t fol-
lows. Of course. that this access Of
fertility to these bottoms j. gained at
the expense Of the uplands thrown out
IF cultivation and left to rest
But when an old field has borne sew
eral crops q the prevalent weeds-the
broom sedge, crab grass. pennyroyal
and other plants which spring up upon
it-or has become covered with ten
years growth Of timber. the gradual
accretions Of organic matter thus made
contribute . large quantity Of plant food
to the soil and this in its decay pro-
duces available nitrogen and much car
bonic acid. which exerts a solvent effect
upon the mineral particles Of the soil.
and thus, both directly and indirectly,
this sort Of rest increases the fertility
Of the SOIL 1t is not rest: in reality il
IS simply q change Of crop. and exem-
plifies the truth Of the ancient belief
referred to by Virgil. who wrote
Thus also the fields rest, the produce
being changed; but" he adds. 'sthere
Is no favor to the unplowed land" and
thus showed that in those times the
practice Of a bare fallow without till
age was not considered . good prac-
tice. Sir j. b. Lawcs and several other
experimenters whose competence and
c~arcfulness are not questioned have
shown that the bare soil constantly
loses fertility by the passage through
1t Of the rain water, which carries on
the dissolved matter as soon rs il il
formed by the slow decomposition Of
the mineral particles
The modern practice Of good farmers
has shown conclusivcly that the soil
does not need a rest: that cultivation
effects a constant reduction Of a portion
Of the soil to . soluble condition in
which il may become fit food forplants.
Moreover. il has been long believed
that the separation Of oxygen from the
atmosphere by certain effects Of a finely
divided soil releases an equivalent por- !
ton Of the nitrogen. which forms four |
ifths Of the bulk Of the air from its
mixture with the oxygen, and that this
nitrogen becomes available. NJ least, in
some part. a food for plants Then it
follows hat a cultivated crop, such a
roots. corn. beans, potatoes, cotton, to-
bacco, Is restful 70 the soil to = certain
extent Il nm adequate quantity Of ma
nure il supplied to make up for the
direct demands Of Il upon the land; or
II clover or grass Is grown, that this
crop also rests and refrcshes the land
by its effect upon il. which leaves .